Header Image: The Jupiter-Saturn Great Conjunction happening in December 2020 can be viewed when lookin southwest after local sunset. In astronomy, we often tie a time period to something. “It’s been 50 years since this one thing happened,” or “it’s been 3 years since we saw this other event in the sky.” Every once in […]

Header Image: Jupiter and two of its Moons, Io and Ganymede. Image Credit: NASA/Damian Peach To end this unprecedented year, we’ll all get to celebrate beneath a “Great Conjunction” in December 2020. For the past six months, the brilliant planet Jupiter and the dimmer (but still bright) planet Saturn have appeared several degrees away from […]

Header Image: The outside of the Adler Planetarium at night with the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn brightly lit in the background. Image Credit: Mike Smail Many of us lost an hour earlier this year, but we get back that hour this month, November 2020! Most of the United States uses Daylight Saving time, which starts […]

Header Image: An attendee looking through a telescope during a ‘Scopes In The City neighborhood event with the Adler Planetarium in 2018. Hi there! I’m Michelle Nichols the Director of Public Observing and an astronomy educator at the Adler Planetarium. Are you a sky observing beginner and want some recommendations on how to get started? […]

Header Image: Astrophotography picture of the Moon. Image Credit: Nick Lake What, exactly, is a blue moon, and how rare is it? This question seems like it should have a straightforward answer, but as with all things related to language, it’s complicated. Absurd, Impossible, or Rare? The phrase blue moon has been around for several […]

Header Image: Up close image of the Moon taken by an Adler Planetarium astronomer in June 2020. Image Credit: Michelle Nichols The “Red Planet” is at its closest and brightest for the year this month, October 2020. On the 6th, the planet Mars reaches its closest point to Earth for the next 15 years. In […]

Header Image: The Sun sets during Chicagohenge as a CTA train in Chicago, Illinois travels towards it. Image Credit: @cdats It’s a great month for planet viewing and observing the Earth-and-sky occurrence known as “Chicagohenge”, in September 2020. Start your planet viewing during evening twilight by looking low in the southern skies to see the […]

Header Image: In this 30 second exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower Friday, Aug. 12, 2016 in Spruce Knob, West Virginia. Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls Hello stargazers! One of the best annual meteor showers of the year occurs this month, August 2020. The Perseid meteor shower is expected […]

Header Image: Chicagohenge as seen from West Adams Street. Image Credit: Tim Hara Update: This blog is revised each year with updated dates of Chicagohenge and the equinoxes. Greetings fellow Chicagoans! It is almost that time of year when nature and architecture harmoniously come together to create the phenomenon known as Chicagohenge. For those who […]

This month will be a little longer than usual, but still shorter than most months of the calendar — because it’s February 2020. This year is a Leap Year, when the short month of February has 29 days instead of the usual 28. Earth’s actual orbit around the Sun takes about one-quarter of a day […]